Two Brides, 14 Guests and a Colorado Mansion Wedding

The guest list for Vanessa Crane and Lakin Schultz’s October wedding at the Orman mansion in Pueblo, Colorado, will fit into one Airbnb. There were 14 people including the two brides. Every chair in the mansion’s beautiful garden was filled. The fountain made a gurgling sound. The flower, grown in a local Colorado gardener’s backyard, was already beginning to bloom. Guests were given one instruction on what to wear. It’s a colorful thing. They delivered.

how did they get here

Vanessa and Lakin had been dating for five and a half years before the proposals began. Lakin went first. She took Vanessa to Centennial Park in Nashville, where the couple lived at the time, for a sunset picnic with wine, charcuterie, and her guitar. She performed a cover song. She performed an original song. He then proposed by singing a rewritten version of Taylor Swift’s “Paper Rings,” one of Vanessa’s favorites. They celebrated with tequila shots at Southside, a bar they frequented.

Five days later, in Banff, Canada, after a short hike at Lake Minnewanka, Vanessa proposed to Lakin. A hired photographer had planted a message in a bottle on a rock by the water. Lakin believed it was trash and had no intention of picking it up. Vanessa insisted it was for her own good. The bottle contained an original poem and a formal proposal letter. Vanessa had also brought a mini bottle of tequila to toast with. That night, the couple celebrated both proposals with dinner at Chuck’s Steakhouse in Banff.

The engagement lasted 16 months. Not the simple kind.

find colorado

The couple moved from Nashville to Lafayette, Louisiana to save money and plan their wedding surrounded by family and community. The plan quickly dissolved. Lakin’s mentors, who offered their home as a venue, began adding conditions the couple could not meet, each agreement creating new non-negotiable demands. The final conversation ended with Mentor telling Lakin that he did not think at all that she should marry Vanessa. “In the six years we spent together, he was never this vocal against her,” Vanessa says.

They moved on and started contacting venues. More than 40 of those locations are located throughout Acadiana and New Orleans. Some did not respond after learning the wedding was for a same-sex couple. Others responded that it was not within their values. Most of the positives were outside of our budget. The couple considered eloping, but their parents were not happy about it, as they were the first in their immediate family to get engaged in public and were planning a wedding. They decided to have a micro wedding with just their parents, siblings, and Lakin’s living grandparents.

Then they started thinking about where it was. Italy was beautiful, but traveling can be difficult for older people. California was nothing like them. It was already cold in Banff, where one of the proposals took place, and Airbnb would have been over budget. “Colorado,” Vanessa says. “perfection.”

They found the Orman mansion. I also booked an Airbnb the same day. An invitation has appeared. Flight confirmed. The elder, who had cancer, withdrew for health reasons, and his cousin took his place. Everyone agreed to Vanessa’s request to color coordinate her wedding outfit. “It felt like a miracle because everything had already happened,” Vanessa says.

Betrayal before the wedding

Less than a month before the wedding, Lakin’s brother canceled his attendance. They had joined an evangelical church that practiced conversion therapy and told the couple they no longer supported their marriage. “The person who was once our biggest advocate called our engagement our greatest blessing and asked us to marry him,” Vanessa says.

“The greatest betrayal of being a queer person is when your parents or siblings use religion to undermine your relationships and degrade you as a person,” she says. “To this day, this betrayal affects us almost every day, casting the darkest cloud over such a bright moment in our lives.”

They went to Colorado anyway. With 14 people who gathered.

Two friends who showed up anyway

Two close friends and their spouses told Vanessa and Lakin early on that an invitation was not necessary. “We’ll show up uninvited and we’ll stand outside the gates if needed,” they said in nearly the same words. They were the only people outside of their immediate family invited to the wedding. They arrived at Pueblo.

get ready

The brides began preparing separately. Hair and makeup for both were done by Estefania Valencia. Vanessa wore a gown from a Baton Rouge bridal boutique, embroidered with hand-stitched florals and finished with a vibrant cape from Lamni Studio, complete with butterflies. Each cape represents a loved one she has lost. The veil was also embroidered with flowers. Lakin wore an ivory chiffon cape maxi jumpsuit purchased from JJ’s House with a bun. The jumpsuit was custom painted with flowers by Vanessa’s friend Haley Haggerty of Handwritten by Hales. Vanessa’s shoes were also painted to match. Both brides carried bouquets of pink, orange, peach, yellow, and white wildflowers grown in their private gardens at Daisy Chain Flower Farm. Their vow book, ordered from Luna Paper Company, matched the floral aesthetic.

Vanessa’s ring was designed together with Felice Gals. Lakeyn’s was made at Peacock Jewelers in Nashville.

Ceremony at Orman House

The rooms in the Orman mansion are painted in bold, saturated colors, and Vanessa and Lakin built their entire wedding palette around them. Guests arrived in all colors, making a collective decision to make the outdoor ceremony feel like a garden party where everyone was invited to be a part of something. Bouquets of wildflowers, hand-painted shoes, and embroidered cloaks all extend the same visual logic. In other words, color is intentional, not accidental.

Lakin was the first to walk down the aisle, accompanied by her parents. Vanessa followed, accompanied by her parents. Lakin carried a family heirloom, a rosary, woven into a bouquet. The procession was performed as an instrumental version of the couple’s own song, which Vanessa commissioned specifically for the ceremony.

The two brides each wrote their own vows.

Details made by ourselves

The reception space featured a memorial table with photos of loved ones who had passed away, framed and displayed for guests to view. There was an oversized printed crossword puzzle filled with details about Vanessa and Lakin’s relationship for guests to work on together. Printed relationship photos were laid out throughout the space. The champagne glasses were given personalized drink tags with the couple’s initials. Instead of a wedding cake, the couple opted for a private plated dinner at Twenty One Steak in Pueblo.

Dessert is from Sweet Petals by Summer. Vanessa’s parents paid for the meal, and they contributed to the dress and several other things during the planning process. “Shout out to Peggy,” Vanessa says of her mother.

Bach Day on Frenchman Street

Before Colorado, there was New Orleans. The couple’s last joint bachelorette stint ended with a bar hopping on Frenchman Street, ending at a karaoke bar late into the night. “It was filled with the pure joy of girlhood,” Vanessa says.

Photographers who stayed late

Meg and Kevin from Run Wild With Me Photography photographed our wedding. They stayed past their contracted time to pick up bouquets of flowers for the couple and create additional photo opportunities. “Not only did they provide a lot of guidance and resources, but they also offered little things like picking up bouquets and staying past their appointment time to take creative photos,” Vanessa says.

What other couples should know

“Don’t feel obligated to invite someone whose support and love for you may be questioned,” says Vanessa. “If they’re not actively and openly excited about you, it takes away your memories of the day.”

On a budget: “If you’re on a tight budget, it doesn’t hurt to reach out and explain your situation. Know your essentials, create a consistent budget, join a budget group and ask for recommendations. Many vendors, especially in the queer wedding industry, are really loving and willing to work on a sliding scale, but it’s their business too, so be realistic.”

Vanessa and Lakin come to Colorado after being turned down by more than 40 venues after a mentor betrays them, a brother leaves them, and their original plans fall apart. 14 people were sitting on that garden chair. The fountain ran. Wildflowers were blooming. Tequila was ready as usual. ❤️

Featured LGBTQ+-inclusive and queer-affirming wedding vendors

Photographer: Run Wild With Me Photos
Wedding ceremony/reception venue: Orman House
Florist: daisy chain flower farm
Book of Oaths: luna paper company
Vanessa (cape) outfit: ramuni studio
Leikin’s outfit: JJ’s house
Ring for Vanessa: felice gals
Ring for Reikin: Peacock Jewelers
Dessert: summer sweet petals
Custom painted shoes: Handwritten by Hales
Hair and makeup: Estefania Valencia

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